Webber seeking his first win and first good start for what seems like years. Hamilton seeking to prove he is the ultimate street circuit driver after his mess at Monaco, plus seeking to get to his rightful place on the front row by the end of lap 1 to correct the Q3 fuelling error. Button wanting to finish the season as number 1 McLaren driver. Alonso expecting to fly past everyone at the start.

ps "youngest" is a misleading measure. It is only possible to win a WDC once a year, so I'd say Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel are equal at wining the WDC in the year of their 24 birthday. Of course that is all irrelevant, first you need your team to provide you with a good car.

Number of starts is important, but more importantly, he happens to have been on a young driver programme for the team with a dominant car.

richard_leeds wrote:but more importantly, he happens to have been on a young driver programme for the team with a dominant car.

Something used against Hamilton by many but so often forgotten when talking about Vettel. Funny that...

No, what's 'used' against Hamilton is that he's stepped into the fastest car right away; Vettel first drove for the mid-field Torro Rosso team before getting into the Red Bull. Hamilton's never driven for anything but a top team.

Not a bad thing perse in my own book, but it of course completely invalidates any claims that Vettel can only perform in the fastest car, whereas it's Hamilton who's never done anything else.

richard_leeds wrote:but more importantly, he happens to have been on a young driver programme for the team with a dominant car.

Something used against Hamilton by many but so often forgotten when talking about Vettel. Funny that...

No, what's 'used' against Hamilton is that he's stepped into the fastest car right away; Vettel first drove for the mid-field Torro Rosso team before getting into the Red Bull. Hamilton's never driven for anything but a top team.

Not a bad thing perse in my own book, but it of course completely invalidates any claims that Vettel can only perform in the fastest car, whereas it's Hamilton who's never done anything else.

Just_a_fan wrote:Something used against Hamilton by many but so often forgotten when talking about Vettel. Funny that...

No, what's 'used' against Hamilton is that he's stepped into the fastest car right away; Vettel first drove for the mid-field Torro Rosso team before getting into the Red Bull. Hamilton's never driven for anything but a top team.

Not a bad thing perse in my own book, but it of course completely invalidates any claims that Vettel can only perform in the fastest car, whereas it's Hamilton who's never done anything else.

missed 2009 have we?

1. A 'not as good' season doesn't make McLaren a mid-field team. There's a difference between not being the top 2 teams, and being a mid-field team. Or was Ferrari suddenly a mid-field team in 2005?2. Torro Rosso didn't win two races, 5 podiums and finished third ahead of Ferrari.

Vettel's win there wasn't all that spectacular.Fisichella would have won spa in Force india If Kimi never cut the track.Some midfield cars can be very good once in a blue moon.Fisichella was mighty that day. Vettel had one of those days, the car was very good.

ringo wrote:Vettel's win there wasn't all that spectacular.Fisichella would have won spa in Force india If Kimi never cut the track.Some midfield cars can be very good once in a blue moon.Fisichella was mighty that day. Vettel had one of those days, the car was very good.

He needs a champion teammate right now to prove his mettle.

I don't think Vettle is the one that has to prove anything, maybe somebody else

ringo wrote:Vettel's win there wasn't all that spectacular.Fisichella would have won spa in Force india If Kimi never cut the track.Some midfield cars can be very good once in a blue moon.Fisichella was mighty that day. Vettel had one of those days, the car was very good.

He needs a champion teammate right now to prove his mettle.

Aside from the uselesness of that last statement -even if he beats Alonso and Hamilton in the same car you'll come up with another excuse- what do those points have to do with the fact that Torro Rosso was a midfield team and McLaren wasn't in 2009?

ringo wrote:Vettel's win there wasn't all that spectacular.Fisichella would have won spa in Force india If Kimi never cut the track.Some midfield cars can be very good once in a blue moon.Fisichella was mighty that day. Vettel had one of those days, the car was very good.

He needs a champion teammate right now to prove his mettle.

Something that hasn't been praised enough is how well FI did this GP. Force India really gave some good racing and handily deserve the points they got today. I'm hoping that they continue to push developments and upgrades since they certainly have the drivers (good on Di Resta and Sutil) to make the most of them. Personally, I would take a grab at changing the nose (perhaps a thin Mercedes nose and front wing?).

As for Vettel needing a champion teammate to "prove his mettle", he had one in 2010. He also had Button and Hamilton in Mclarens, and Massa and Alonso in Ferraris. He had 5 other drivers competing down TO THE LINE in Abu Dhabi. To me, he proved he could drive hard to win races, with the WDC an astounding victory, but he has learned and matured a lot between 2010 and 2011. As much as it pains me to say, deserves his second WDC in Japan. Him, the car, the team, deserve it.

ringo wrote:well naturally if you are the youngest in one thing you'll be youngest in the rest, once in a good car.He's not the least experienced champion or points scorer, though he may be the youngest. Race starts tell the real picture.

Anyway will he do it tomorrow, or will he be denied by the desperados?

Please don't tell this to Lewis Hamilton. For him being the youngest WDC does mean alot to him. That's part of the key ingredient you need to be the best of your generation.

And now that Vettel has out scored him in both wins and pole, and on route to his 2nd WDC, this will be a big mental blow for him.

Isn't it also possible that Vettel has already clinched the title, though the mathematical possibility of someone else taking it exists. For instance, lets say Vettel wins three of the remaining five races, ending with say 400 points; his nearest rival, Button finished with say 250 points. Therefore, the difference of 150 points, or 6 wins would mean Vettel clinched it in Italy/Singapore?

I'm no mathematician, but isn't there some logic to this? Couldn't Vettel have clinched it already?